Destiny 2 Gets a Final Surprise from Bungie as Studio Outlines Limited Support

Bungie has delivered one last surprise to Destiny 2 players as a farewell gift, while also revealing its limited support plans for the game. The official Destiny 2 X/Twitter account shared a code for a new emblem featuring the Destiny logo. Players can redeem it on Bungie's website and equip it in-game. It's a small gesture, but a nice parting gift from the studio.

Additionally, Bungie communications manager Dylan Gafner confirmed that the team will continue to take Destiny 2 offline periodically for server maintenance and in case of urgent situations. They will also be ready to fix major issues like game crashes. Gafner added that Bungie will attempt to release fixes if the opportunity arises, but beyond that, players should not expect any notable updates.

Last month, Bungie released the final update for Destiny 2. The move was bittersweet, especially since all signs suggested the game wasn't meant to end yet. However, the decision came after Destiny 2 failed to sustain the engagement needed to continue, and Bungie felt that supporting its latest title, Marathon, was a better investment. As a result, hundreds of Bungie employees were laid off as their roles on Destiny became redundant.

Some fans hope Bungie will continue the Destiny universe, but that seems increasingly unlikely. Reports indicate that Destiny 3 is not in development due to the high investment required. For now, the focus is on the extraction shooter Marathon.

Bungie has faced financial struggles for some time and was reportedly on the brink of closure before Sony acquired the studio in 2022 for $3.6 billion. Sony recently reported a $765 million impairment loss due to Bungie's underperformance.

Bungie's issues with Destiny 2 reportedly began around the time of last summer's Edge of Fate expansion, which underperformed. The decision to end support was allegedly made "earlier this year" after deciding not to relaunch the franchise as "Destiny Infinity."

Forbes reported that Bungie began discussing different scenarios for Destiny 2's future after December's Renegades, a Star Wars-themed crossover expansion, "did even worse [than Edge of Fate] and didn't change sales or retention trajectory."

Destiny Infinity would have been a relaunch alongside a return to the one-big-expansion model Destiny used to have, but the idea was scrapped due to high costs and risks, especially in the context of supporting Marathon.

Destiny 2 launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 6, 2017, with a PC version following a month later. Behind the scenes, tension between Bungie and Activision emerged, leading to the two companies parting ways in January 2019, ending their 10-year publishing deal five years early.

With Destiny in its own hands, Bungie self-published the game but couldn't escape financial troubles and layoffs as expansions failed to hit the mark and the player base dwindled. Extraction shooter Marathon launched in early March with a reported budget of over $250 million, but according to analysts, it has also failed to meet sales expectations.